Patents by Inventor Yuta Urano
Yuta Urano has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20120133926Abstract: A method and apparatus of inspecting a defect of a surface of a sample in which a laser beam is irradiated on a sample surface so that at least a part of an illumination field of the laser beam illuminates a first area of the sample surface, a plurality of scattered light rays from the first area caused by the irradiation is detected with a plurality of detectors, detection errors of inclination of an illumination apparatus and a sensor for the plurality of scattered light rays detected by the plurality of detectors are corrected, at least one of adding and averaging the corrected plurality of scattered light rays, and a defect on the sample surface is determined based on the plurality of scattered light rays in accordance with the correction of errors of inclination of the illumination apparatus and the sensor.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2012Publication date: May 31, 2012Inventors: Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20120092656Abstract: Provided is a method for inspecting a defect on a surface of a sample, the method including the steps of comparing a haze signal distribution with a predetermined light intensity distribution to calculate pixel shift amounts of detection signals; and adding up shift corrected detection signals to detect a defect.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 28, 2010Publication date: April 19, 2012Inventors: Toshiyuki Nakao, Shigenobu Maruyama, Yuta Urano, Toshihiko Nakata
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Patent number: 8144337Abstract: To inspect a substrate such as a semiconductor substrate for surface roughness at high precision. The surface roughness of the substrate is measured in each frequency band of the surface roughness by applying a light to the substrate surface and detecting a scattered light or reflected light at a plurality of azimuth or elevation angles.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2009Date of Patent: March 27, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Akira Hamamatsu, Yoshimasa Oshima, Shunji Maeda, Hisae Shibuya, Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao, Shigenobu Maruyama
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Patent number: 8120766Abstract: Scattered light that originates from the surface roughness of silicon or other metallic films is distributed more strongly at positions closer to the starting position of the scattering. Of all scattered-light detection signals obtained during multi-directional detection, therefore, only a detection signal of forward scattered light can be used to detect micro-defects, and only a detection signal of backward scattered light can be used to detect the surface roughness very accurately.Type: GrantFiled: July 21, 2009Date of Patent: February 21, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Yoshimasa Oshima, Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao
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Patent number: 8115915Abstract: A method and apparatus for inspecting a defect of a surface of a sample in which a laser beam is irradiated on a sample surface so that at least a part of an illumination field of the laser beam illuminates a first area of the sample surface, a plurality of scattered light rays from the first area caused by the irradiation in the irradiating is detected, errors of inclination of an illumination apparatus and a sensor for the plurality of scattered light rays detected are corrected, the plurality of scattered light rays corrected is at least one of added and averaged, a defect on the sample surface based on the plurality of scattered light rays in accordance with the correcting of errors of inclination of the illumination apparatus and the sensor is determined.Type: GrantFiled: February 4, 2011Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima, Yuta Urano
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Patent number: 8107065Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting defects are provided for detecting harmful defects or foreign matter with high sensitivity on an object to be inspected with a transparent film, such as an oxide film, by reducing noise due to a circuit pattern. The apparatus for detecting defects includes a stage part on which a substrate specimen is put and which is arbitrarily movable in each of the X-Y-Z-? directions, an illumination system for irradiating the circuit pattern with light from an inclined direction, and an image-forming optical system for forming an image of an irradiated detection area on a detector from the upward and oblique directions. With this arrangement, diffracted light and scattered light caused on the circuit pattern through the illumination by the illumination system is collected. Furthermore, a spatial filter is provided on a Fourier transform surface for blocking the diffracted light from a linear part of the circuit pattern.Type: GrantFiled: July 6, 2010Date of Patent: January 31, 2012Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Hiroyuki Nakano, Toshihiko Nakata, Sachio Uto, Akira Hamamatsu, Shunji Maeda, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20120019835Abstract: Provided are a defect inspecting method and a defect inspecting apparatus, wherein defect detecting sensitivity is improved and also haze measurement is performed using polarization detection, while suppressing damages to samples. The defect inspecting apparatus is provided with a light source which oscillates to a sample a laser beam having a wavelength band wherein a small energy is absorbed, and two independent detecting optical systems, i.e., a defect detecting optical system which detects defect scattered light generated by a defect, by radiating the laser beams oscillated by the light source, and a haze detecting optical system which detects roughness scattered light generated due to roughness of the wafer surface. Polarization detection is independently performed with respect to the scattered light detected by the two detecting optical systems, and based on the two different detection signals, defect determination and haze measurement are performed.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 15, 2009Publication date: January 26, 2012Inventors: Toshiyuki Nakao, Shigenobu Maruyama, Akira Hamamatsu, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20110255074Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus and method includes utilizing an irradiation optical system that focuses a beam flux emitted from a laser light source and formed into a slit-shaped beam so as to irradiate the beam onto the surface of the substrate to be inspected, utilizing a detection optical system that detects light from the substrate that has been irradiated with the slit-shaped beam, and utilizing a signal processor that processes a signal output from the detection optical system. The irradiation optical system includes a cylindrical lens for focusing the beam that has been emitted from the laser light source onto the substrate to be inspected, as the slit-shaped beam, wherein the cylindrical lens is disposed so as to obtain a distance between an incidence surface or emitting surface thereof and the slit-shaped beam upon the substrate to be inspected to be equal to a focal distance of the cylindrical lens.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 29, 2011Publication date: October 20, 2011Inventors: Hiroyuki Nakano, Akira Hamamatsu, Sachio Uto, Yoshimasa Oshima, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Yuta Urano, Shunji Maeda
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Publication number: 20110211191Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus is capable of inspecting an extremely small defect present on the top and edge surfaces of a sample such as a semiconductor substrate or a thin film substrate with high sensitivity and at high speed. The defect inspection apparatus has an illumination optical system, a plurality of detection optical units and a signal processor. One or more of the detection optical units receives either light diffracted from an edge portion of the sample or light diffracted from an edge grip holding the sample. The one or more of the detection optical units shields the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit based on a signal obtained by monitoring an intensity of the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit in order to inspect a sample portion located near the edge portion and a sample portion located near the edge grip.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 13, 2011Publication date: September 1, 2011Inventors: Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima
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Patent number: 7973920Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus includes a movable stage for mounting a substrate having circuit patterns as an object of inspection, an irradiation optical system which irradiates a slit-shaped light beam from an oblique direction to the circuit patterns of the substrate, a detection optical system which includes an image sensor for receiving reflected/scattered light from the substrate by irradiation of the slit-shaped light beam and converting the received light into a signal, and an image processor which processes the signal. The irradiation optical system includes a cylindrical lens and a coherency reduction optical system, which receives the light beam and emits a plurality of slit-shaped light sub-beams which are spatially reduced in coherency in a light-converging direction of the cylindrical lens. The cylindrical lens focuses the plurality of slit-shaped light sub-beams into the slit-shaped light beam irradiated to the surface of the substrate.Type: GrantFiled: November 19, 2010Date of Patent: July 5, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Hiroyuki Nakano, Akira Hamamatsu, Sachio Uto, Yoshimasa Oshima, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Yuta Urano, Shunji Maeda
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Patent number: 7965386Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus is capable of inspecting an extremely small defect present on the top and edge surfaces of a sample such as a semiconductor substrate or a thin film substrate with high sensitivity and at high speed. The defect inspection apparatus has an illumination optical system, a plurality of detection optical units and a signal processor. One or more of the detection optical units receives either light diffracted from an edge portion of the sample or light diffracted from an edge grip holding the sample. The one or more of the detection optical units shields the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit based on a signal obtained by monitoring an intensity of the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit in order to inspect a sample portion located near the edge portion and a sample portion located near the edge grip.Type: GrantFiled: December 9, 2010Date of Patent: June 21, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima
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Publication number: 20110128534Abstract: A method and apparatus for inspecting a defect of a surface of a sample in which a laser beam is irradiated on a sample surface so that at least a part of an illumination field of the laser beam illuminates a first area of the sample surface, a plurality of scattered light rays from the first area caused by the irradiation in the irradiating is detected, errors of inclination of an illumination apparatus and a sensor for the plurality of scattered light rays detected are corrected, the plurality of scattered light rays corrected is at least one of added and averaged, a defect on the sample surface based on the plurality of scattered light rays in accordance with the correcting of errors of inclination of the illumination apparatus and the sensor is determined.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 4, 2011Publication date: June 2, 2011Inventors: Toshiyuki NAKAO, Yoshimasa OSHIMA, Yuta URANO
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Publication number: 20110080578Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus is capable of inspecting an extremely small defect present on the top and edge surfaces of a sample such as a semiconductor substrate or a thin film substrate with high sensitivity and at high speed. The defect inspection apparatus has an illumination optical system, a plurality of detection optical units and a signal processor. One or more of the detection optical units receives either light diffracted from an edge portion of the sample or light diffracted from an edge grip holding the sample. The one or more of the detection optical units shields the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit based on a signal obtained by monitoring an intensity of the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit in order to inspect a sample portion located near the edge portion and a sample portion located near the edge grip.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 9, 2010Publication date: April 7, 2011Inventors: Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima
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Publication number: 20110075134Abstract: An apparatus for inspecting a specimen includes a first illumination unit having a laser light source and a first optical component for illuminating a specimen on which patterns are formed with a laser from a first elevation angle direction, a second illuminating unit having a light source and a second optical component for illuminating the specimen from a second elevation angle direction which is greater than the first elevation angle, a first detection optical unit which detects light from the specimen illuminated by the first illumination unit, a second detection optical unit which detects light from the specimen illuminated by the second illumination unit, and a signal processing unit which processes signals output from the first detector to detect defects in a first area on the specimen and processes signals output from the second detector to detect defects in a second area on the specimen.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 9, 2010Publication date: March 31, 2011Inventors: Sachio UTO, Hiroyuki Nakano, Yukihiro Shibata, Akira Hamamatsu, Yuta Urano
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Patent number: 7916288Abstract: A method for inspecting a defect of a surface of a sample, includes irradiating a laser beam on the sample surface a plurality of times so that at least part of an illumination field of the laser beam on the sample surface illuminates a first area of the sample surface each of the plurality of times, detecting a plurality of scattered light rays from the first area caused by the plurality of times of irradiation, correcting errors of detection timings for the plurality of scattered light rays detected in the detection step, and determining a defect on the sample surface based on the plurality of scattered light rays in accordance with the correcting errors of detection timings.Type: GrantFiled: February 26, 2010Date of Patent: March 29, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20110063603Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus includes a movable stage for mounting a substrate having circuit patterns as an object of inspection, an irradiation optical system which irradiates a slit-shaped light beam from an oblique direction to the circuit patterns of the substrate, a detection optical system which includes an image sensor for receiving reflected/scattered light from the substrate by irradiation of the slit-shaped light beam and converting the received light into a signal, and an image processor which processes the signal. The irradiation optical system includes a cylindrical lens and a coherency reduction optical system, which receives the light beam and emits a plurality of slit-shaped light sub-beams which are spatially reduced in coherency in a light-converging direction of the cylindrical lens. The cylindrical lens focuses the plurality of slit-shaped light sub-beams into the slit-shaped light beam irradiated to the surface of the substrate.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 19, 2010Publication date: March 17, 2011Inventors: Hiroyuki Nakano, Akira Hamamatsu, Sachio Uto, Yoshimasa Oshima, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Yuta Urano, Shunji Maeda
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Patent number: 7869024Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus is capable of inspecting an extremely small defect present on the top and edge surfaces of a sample such as a semiconductor substrate or a thin film substrate with high sensitivity and at high speed. The defect inspection apparatus has an illumination optical system, a plurality of detection optical units and a signal processor. One or more of the detection optical units receives either light diffracted from an edge portion of the sample or light diffracted from an edge grip holding the sample. The one or more of the detection optical units shields the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit based on a signal obtained by monitoring an intensity of the diffracted light received by the detection optical unit in order to inspect a sample portion located near the edge portion and a sample portion located near the edge grip.Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 2009Date of Patent: January 11, 2011Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Yuta Urano, Toshiyuki Nakao, Yoshimasa Oshima
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Patent number: 7859656Abstract: An inspection system includes: a facility that uses wide-band illumination light having different wavelengths and single-wavelength light to perform dark-field illumination on an object of inspection, which has the surface thereof coated with a transparent film, in a plurality of illuminating directions at a plurality of illuminating angles; a facility that detects light reflected or scattered from repetitive patterns and light reflected or scattered from non-repetitive patterns with the wavelengths thereof separated from each other; a facility that efficiently detects light reflected or scattered from a foreign matter or defect in the repetitive patterns or non-repetitive patterns or a foreign matter or defect on the surface of the transparent film; and a facility that removes light, which is diffracted by the repetitive patterns, from a diffracted light image of actual patterns or design data representing patterns. Consequently, a more microscopic defect can be detected stably.Type: GrantFiled: February 6, 2009Date of Patent: December 28, 2010Assignee: Hitachi high-Technologies CorporationInventors: Sachio Uto, Hiroyuki Nakano, Yukihiro Shibata, Akira Hamamatsu, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20100271628Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting defects are provided for detecting harmful defects or foreign matter with high sensitivity on an object to be inspected with a transparent film, such as an oxide film, by reducing noise due to a circuit pattern. The apparatus for detecting defects includes a stage part on which a substrate specimen is put and which is arbitrarily movable in each of the X-Y-Z-? directions, an illumination system for irradiating the circuit pattern with light from an inclined direction, and an image-forming optical system for forming an image of an irradiated detection area on a detector from the upward and oblique directions. With this arrangement, diffracted light and scattered light caused on the circuit pattern through the illumination by the illumination system is collected. Furthermore, a spatial filter is provided on a Fourier transform surface for blocking the diffracted light from a linear part of the circuit pattern.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 6, 2010Publication date: October 28, 2010Inventors: Hiroyuki NAKANO, Toshihiko Nakata, Sachio Uto, Akira Hamamatsu, Shunji Maeda, Yuta Urano
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Publication number: 20100271626Abstract: An inspection method and an inspection device, or apparatus each capable of conducting composition analysis of a defect detected by elastic or stokes scattered light, an inspection surface or defect on the surface of the inspection surface, or a defect on the surface of the inspection object and its internal composition. A surface inspection method for optically detecting elastic or stokes scattering or inelastic or anti-stokes scattered light from inside the surface of the inspection object, for detecting existence of defects of the inspection object and features of the defects, for detecting positions of the detected defects on the surface of the inspection object, classifying and analyzing the detected defects in accordance with their features on the basis of the positions of the defects and the features of the defects or the classification result of the defects.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 6, 2010Publication date: October 28, 2010Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies CorporationInventors: Izuo HORAI, Hirokazu Koyabu, Yuta Urano, Takahiro Jingu